More Red Wings-Sharks pre-game 4 discussion

Of note as we proceed toward Game 4 of the Red Wings-Sharks series (7:30 PM, FSD/WXYT/TSN/Versus/CSN Bay Area), the Mercury News's David Pollak noted that Sharks coach Todd McLellan does not exclude the possibility of a Wings comeback:

May 6, Mercury News: “Our job is a very difficult one, to try and win the fourth game,” he
said. “But because it’s Detroit, it might make the coach’s job and even
the leaders’ job easier because they do have that distinct threat of
having the ability to come back. If it was another team that didn’t have the rich history and the
experience that this Red Wings team has, maybe we could get ahead of
ourselves,” he continued. “But I think they’re actually helping us in
that preparation because we have that respect for them.”

Pollak also noted that the Wings (including lineup addition Mattias Ritola) plan on taking inspiration from their Game 7 over the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round:

“That was a must-win game, this is a must win game so there are
similarities,” defenseman Brad Stuart said. “Everybody’s been in the
position where you have to win a game. That’s all it is, simple as
that.”

The Sharks were all watching that game and McLellan said he remembers
what Coyote coach Dave Tippett had to say afterward, saying that
Phoenix felt as if it had been in a hurricane, what with the Red Wings
sending rush after rush down the ice.

“They’re not going away,” McLellan said of the Red Wings. “They’re
going to come out and play hard and if we’re on our heels, we’ll have a
hurricane on our hands. If we’re on our toes, we’ll find a way to deal
with it.”

The Wings do not, however, have an answer as to why the Sharks have out-scored them 5-1 over the course of three games' worth of third periods, as the CBC's series blogger noted:

May 6, CBC Sports: "I'm not sure how to answer this question," Detroit centre Pavel Datsyuk
said. "I know it's not consistent. I know before that this has
happened."

Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom was more succinct in
his assessment of what went wrong in Game 3, when Detroit squandered
a 3-1 third-period lead and lost 4-3 in overtime.

"We've
been back on our heels rather than playing on our toes and being
aggressive," Lidstrom said.

Update 1:43 PM: ESPN's Pierre LeBrun adds this from Babcock...

May 6, ESPN: The Wings have done a lot of winning over the past 15-plus years, so
that experience is key right now.

"Number one, you have a
lot of confidence just because you're a good team and you've been a good
team for a long time and found ways to win games," said Babcock.

...

"We did most of our
talking yesterday," said Babcock. "The message from me real clearly was
that, 'You have to get your mind right. You got to get this
compartmentalized into what it is.' Winning four games is a huge amount.
Win a game, talk about your first shift like we always do, and you're
fine. That's the whole key here. We've got to win a game. There's no
sense talking about anything else."

He also talks about the fact that Danny Cleary, Ryane Clowe, and Michael Ryder all represent the province of Newfoundland, but you can read about that for yourself.